


Day 12.8: First Breaths and Fragmentary Passages

by unnoun



Series: The Sea-Change of Fate [3]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Astral Projection, Human Experimentation, I Don't Even Know, Implied Relationships, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Torture, Memory Alteration, Memory Magic, Other, Possessive Behavior, xehanort is a hell of a drug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-06 22:12:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13420686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unnoun/pseuds/unnoun
Summary: As the Witch leaves for the day, the Superior seeks comfort and Repose.





	Day 12.8: First Breaths and Fragmentary Passages

**Author's Note:**

> Fucking 0.2, man.

_[Naminé seemed about to say something, but eventually left without a word...](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7212158/chapters/17167006)_

 

She froze in place, however, when Xemnas said something softly, too softly for her to hear. Deciding to take her chances, she swallowed her nervousness and spoke up. "I'm sorry, sir, what was it you said?" she asked hesitatingly.

 

Xemnas turned away from his reflection in the glass, and his lip curled into that something that might have been a smile. "May your mind be your guiding key." With that said, he turned away, his coat sweeping behind him as he stalked towards his chamber.

 

She stared after him in confusion, briefly shivering for reasons that had nothing to do with cold, before she extended a hand and stepped through the swirling vortex of blackness that appeared, her hood drawn up over her head.

 

She continued walking forward, lost in thought, until her hood was blown back by a sudden gust of wind and sand that blew into her face. Coughing and sputtering, she squeezed her eyes shut as she brought her arm up to cover them, and as her boot stepped forward it bumped into something metal. Reaching blindly, she grasped for whatever it was and shuddered as images burst into her mind.

 

_"Another wielder out for Lux, huh?" "Sorry, but friends aren't my power." "I'm your rival, not your friend."_

 

Blinking away tears, (definitely not from the dust and grit), Naminé stared at the dull metal shaft, and the mirror image next to it. At first she thought she was seeing double, before she bumped into another one as she stepped backwards.

 

She looked up, and immediately wished she hadn't. All around her were keyblades, dull and lifeless and dead, littering the barren ground like tombstones.

 

She stared, and, as if noticing her for the first time, what started as a small murmur began to build, and her head began to pound as millions of voices crashed against her consciousness.

 

_"Mayyourheartbeyourguidingkey—WhatUnionareyoufrom—I'mnotaDandelion—stealingourLux—Itscaresmetodeathevenjustthethoughtofit"_

 

Surrounded by chains, the memories pouring into her skull, she took hold of that last memory, and the features of someone she recognized and  _pulled_ , following the links to—

 

* * *

 

 

—Another graveyard, He walked down the hallway as was His way, ignoring the chained up doors around Himself  _(the sounds of screams of the test subjects seeming to echo to her, even still, the faces of a red-head and bluenette frozen in the gaps between the bars)_  stopping only when He stepped through the door to His Chamber to find that someone he knew was already there.

 

 Instead of a brown robe, this time the familiar intruder was wearing a teenage boy, the bones shifted and skin stretched to make the features older, and more closely resemble Xemnas's own. The same golden amber eyes shone out of that face.

 

Xemnas stepped forward, continuing on his usual route and not intending to let a change in routine disrupt Him, but was forced to a stop when the other man stepped between Him and the throne. His patience wearing thin, He finally decided to address the interloper, only to pause when His counterpart spoke first.

 

"Is this what you've been doing all this time? How trifling," Ansem scoffed.

 

Xemnas paused, briefly analyzed both the accusation, and the flippancy in its tone, before coming to the conclusion that He could not let this affront continue. "If you do not like my choice of  _recreation_ ," He said, His tone deceptively light with an unspoken undercurrent of threat, "then you may feel free to continue your journey elsewhere, Seeker."

 

The Heartless ignored Him as it picked up the armor's helmet, mockingly lifting it on a hand to gaze at the face plate, (causing Xemnas to struggle to fight the sudden intense urge to roll His eyes at this unnecessary display of literal theatricality,) and continued to speak as if its counterpart hadn't said anything. "I would have thought, after all this time you would have found other, more worthy pursuits to keep yourself occupied," it commented, before smirking. "You didn't even get rid of it!" It gestured at the pile of armor, letting the helmet roll off its hand and fall to the ground, before seeming to notice something and taking a more curious stance, its hand propped at his chin. "Except for the blade." An odd  _(hopeful? wistful?)_  expression came over its face, as it looked at Xemnas as though for the first time. "Do you think that perhaps—"

 

"No, she has not returned," Xemnas stated neutrally. "I have put the blade to use in my own projects."

 

Ansem's facial expression changed to disappointment and then to alarm. "After all it did? After it failed her?"

 

"It was hers," Xemnas said simply. "It would be most impolitic to dispose of it in her absence. Which is why I left it in the care of her chosen successor."

 

Ansem's eyes narrowed. "Successor?"

 

Xemnas could feel a hint of smugness creeping into His voice. "Oh? For the past nine years you've searched for the Princesses with that faerie, yet it seems you don't know anything about any of them."

 

"I found them," Ansem declared confidently. "And they have shown the path towards that which I sought."

 

"And you left them," Xemnas countered. "Do you even know where they presently reside?"

 

Ansem was silent for a moment, before brushing the issue aside. "Irrelevant," it dismissed. "My path since discarding you has led me to discover much. With the darkness of Kingdom Hearts, I'll have no need for a few paltry scraps of light."

 

Xemnas's lips curled into something between a smirk and a grimace. "And what makes you think it was not I who discarded you?"

 

Ansem scoffed at this. "Without me you are nothing. Now that I am free from the limitations of a body—"

 

"But you aren't," Xemnas pointed out, gesturing at the seeming adult form before Him. "For all your 'freedom' to roam time and space, here you stand before me entombed in a physical form once again, experiencing real time like the rest of us. I'm not sure what the point of your wanderings was when you end it just as corporeal as you began."

 

"This vessel is far more appropriate than you ever were," Ansem boasted. "Younger, stronger—"

 

Xemnas appeared behind Ansem and backhanded it, sending it flying through the door and hallway to land on its back, at the edge of the spiral ramp, and Xemnas appeared once again to stand over it, His arms crossed, head tilted, eyes searching, seemingly curious more than anything. "Younger, most certainly, to the point of infancy. But  _stronger_?" Xemnas shook His head and turned, stalking back to the chamber.

 

"You may wish to take more time to consider."

 

* * *

 

Naminé startled as she felt a sudden weight on her shoulders, snapping away from her grip on the newly created memories to look up just as she was pulled into a strong hug against an even stronger chest.

 

So strong it was literally made of metal.

 

Looking up, as something cool and heavy gently stroked her hair, she realized the unprompted hug was being delivered by a large suit of armor, bronze and gold, worn smooth by wind and sand, faded by the sun, and dulled by rust, a pair of horns like jackal ears on the helm, and a large cape running down the back.

 

_**NAMINÉ.** _

 

The voice came from the armor, the sound reverberating through the armor and the earth itself and into where the gauntlets made contact with Naminé's head, making her teeth rattle inside her skull. "Y-you know me?" She asked in a daze.

 

The armor tilted its head to the side, such an oddly human gesture that it was as disturbing as it was reassuring.

 

She pushed the armor away, feeling and hearing how hollow and empty it was only contributing to her sense of unease. "Who are you?" she asked, sounding more confident than she expected.

 

The armor stared at her before speaking again; this time the words sounding fainter, as if carried by the passing of the wind through its joints.

 

_i'm...what's left..._

 

Naminé stared, her mouth falling open in shock, her hands rising to cover her gasp.

 

_or...maybe i'm all...there e v e r was..._

 

"Xemnas," she breathed. 

* * *

 

He placed a hand on the back of His throne, easing Himself into it and letting His feet rest on the floor, regarding His friend's remains with a new sense of unease.

 

 His Other had touched them. Had touched  _Her._  Why this should cause any level of distress or discomfort was a mystery, but it was still nevertheless the case.

 

There was no use dwelling on it, however. As He gazed at the pile of armor, He allowed His lips to curl into something that could generously be described as a smile, (He was doing that a lot lately and would have to work on it, it simply wouldn't do if the underlings were to start getting  _ideas_ ) and lay His head back against the backrest of the chair, His eyes closing for but a moment as He instantly and utterly relaxed.

 

His back popped as He arched it against the backrest, and His hand began to stray up His inner thigh in order to brush against - _OHPLEASENONOTTHAT_ –

 

* * *

 

–Naminé snapped back to herself, her mind reeling and stomach churning, as the world started to  _spin_. As her body shuddered and started to sway, the armor immediately caught her by the shoulders. She looked up, and as she stared into the blank faceplate, everything else around her  _d i s a p p e a r e d_.  

 _where are we_  

 

  _She stared, oddly composed, at the simple blankness of the world around them, surrounded by what could have been cards, sometimes linked together like in a chain but more often broken and scattered, with childish scribblings of people and more detailed, almost impressionistic backgrounds._

 

We're in your memories,  _she said soothingly._

 

  _who are you naminé_

 

 Be _fore she could answer, the armored gauntlets that until now had been resting comfortably on one shoulder and rubbing gently between her shoulder blades suddenly encircled her throat and lifted her so she was level with the helmet's faceplate. As she stared at the surface of the metal, sHe saw only Her own cold amber eyes and shock-white hair reflected back at Her._

 

**_WHOAREYOU_ **

 

* * *

 

 She leaned back, staring at Her friend, there ~~beneathHeraroundHer~~ before Her.

 

 

  
_T̸̡̙͓͉̖͔̤̞͈͕͇͈̙ͯ̆̂̓ͫ̈̈ͮ̈͐͗ͫ̆ȩ̴̛̪̘͚̥̩̓̌̋̎̆̍ͩͦͥ̂̈́̑̚ŗ̰̻͔̦̞̭̰̩͉͔͖̏́ͫ̽̔͌̅͊̿̇̍̊ͨ͑̎̑̎̚͡r̭͔̬̳̹̠̬͗͒̍̾͑̽ͧ̏͟a̍̒̑͐͌ͤͨ҉̹̖͍͔͇̹̕͡ͅ, Ven_

 

She looked around, shocked that Her Friend had deigned to respond. "Aqua, you're-"

 

_T̸̡̙͓͉̖͔̤̞͈͕͇͈̙ͯ̆̂̓ͫ̈̈ͮ̈͐͗ͫ̆ȩ̴̛̪̘͚̥̩̓̌̋̎̆̍ͩͦͥ̂̈́̑̚ŗ̰̻͔̦̞̭̰̩͉͔͖̏́ͫ̽̔͌̅͊̿̇̍̊ͨ͑̎̑̎̚͡r̭͔̬̳̹̠̬͗͒̍̾͑̽ͧ̏͟a̍̒̑͐͌ͤͨ҉̹̖͍͔͇̹̕͡ͅ, you spoke?_

 

 She tried to look for HerFriend and unable to see her in the Chamber, instead imagined her as she may be now, the rise and fall of her soft chest, the way her bangs framed her face and _oh, how beautiful she could be with His eyes in her head and His mark on her face, showing proudly for all the worlds who and whose she was-_

 

"Can you see me?"

 

_Of course! I see Ven too._

 

"Ven?"  _Ven? Her Boy? His boy? Their Boy? Sonbrotherstudentvessel χ-blade **χ-blade**_

#  _χ-blade_

 

 

"He's here?" sHe found sHimself saying, barely able to breathe.

 

_T̸̡̙͓͉̖͔̤̞͈͕͇͈̙ͯ̆̂̓ͫ̈̈ͮ̈͐͗ͫ̆ȩ̴̛̪̘͚̥̩̓̌̋̎̆̍ͩͦͥ̂̈́̑̚ŗ̰̻͔̦̞̭̰̩͉͔͖̏́ͫ̽̔͌̅͊̿̇̍̊ͨ͑̎̑̎̚͡r̭͔̬̳̹̠̬͗͒̍̾͑̽ͧ̏͟a̍̒̑͐͌ͤͨ҉̹̖͍͔͇̹̕͡ͅ, what's wrong? Don't you see him?_

 

"Where are we?" ( _Where do you think we are, what do you see, why did you_ leave _me,_ He didn't say)

 

* * *

 

 "Aqua, listen. I promise this is me."

 

He smiled, trying to be reassuring, after so long, pulling and guiding new muscles in the effort, hoping against hope she'd be able to get the message anyway.

 

"But I'm not myself."

 

_whatdoyoumean_

 

And there it was, he grimaced, glad at least to get this out of the way. "You're using the name 'Terra'," he said, mouth curling from discomfort just from uttering it because that name was _wrongwrong **WRONG**_ \- "That means you're seeing me the way that you remember me."

 

"But your heart is just painting the picture that it so wants to see," said Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness.

 

* * *

 

 

"The real me is lost in shadow," Xemnas explained, His hand to his chest, head bowed, hoping the exaggerated movements would convey His intended meaning.

 

_thenyoureheretrappedintherealmofdarkness_

 

"No. My heart has ties to the dark," He explained, looking up and meeting the gaze of His other, seeing the tracks of tears trailing down the cheeks of the face of the young boy the creature had taken, the body itself reverted to its original shape, likely from the effort of maintaining the transformation.

 

He said nothing about the tears, knowing they were reflected on His own features, nor did He comment on the interloper's repeated intrusion into this sacred place. In this, at least, they could be united.

 

* * *

 

 

I can't see anything, Aqua,  _the Armor and the Witch spoke as one without really speaking, the frail, strangled girl serving merely as a relay for the conversation._ If you say Ven is there, then he's like me- an illusion created by your heart.

 

"I looked here," He said, bringing His hand to the nape of His Heartless's neck and bringing tHeir foreheads together. "And found you in the darkness."

 

"Forget about me," Ansem cried, to Xemnas's shock, causing him to let go and the abomination to push itself away. "Aqua, -------- is trying to locate Ven."

 

There was a stillness, as all of the men tried to process the name they had just said. Who? They thought desperately, struggling not to remember.

 

Naminé screamed. _He'll never find him,_ AquaFriend said confidently, as a _Another_ memory forced itself through her.

 

( _beautifulworldisntit- donotforgetthatyouyourselfarenotsoveryddifferent- atlastyousee_ **clearly** )

 

"This place, is it the Chamber of Waking?" The armor asked, hopefully.

 

_Who are you, really?_

 

"You don't know?" the memories said through the Witch's mouth, the force of them, the tangle of them as they snaked backwards and forwards through time and history ensnaring her as thoroughly as any web, writhing beneath Her skin. "My name-"

 

"Silence!" the empty armor roared, and for a moment the image of it wavered, the jackal ears replaced with a crown, and the faceplate briefly seemed like the beak of a bird.

 

"Aqua, you have to-" Xemnas was cut off as Ansem gripped His face in one of Its boyish hands. "-Still you struggle!"

 

"Now you can be one with the Darkness!" Naminé pronounced, struggling against the armor (armors? was there more than one) keyblade-against-keyblade. She stared into the opposing blade, as all of the keys around them seemed to cower from it in adoration and fear, reproach and awe, as another set of memories pressed themself upon her, linking the eye embedded in the head backwards into-

 

 _-an empty socket, and around it the face of a man, nothing_ more-

 

 

# That

 

# IS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

> #  **_ENOUGH!_**

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

The girl sat there, collapsed on the ground, surrounded by the judgement and testament of the dead. Her eyes glassy and her mouth hanging open, overwhelmed by the forces she had been the conduit for.

 

 

The knight stood over her, then collapsed back to the ground, kneeling, its gauntlets returned to the pommel. It would guard her as it did the rest of this world, until she was ready to return to her proper times.

 

The leader of the empty scowled in disgust, and disappointment, and stormed from the room, to prove His Superiority over His followers Between, already plotting how He would grip His diviner by the back of that ridiculous ( ** _ ~~beautiful~~_** ) blue hair and force him _down_ like the dog he was.

 

In his time before time the teacher of the teachers giggled and clapped his hands, not even bothering to staunch the new blood suddenly flowing freely from his empty eyesocket, as he pulled open his first book and began crossing out what he had already written, scribbling furiously in the margins as to outline what had newly unfurled when he thought it, this change to his tapestry, impossible.

 

The monster inhabiting the body of a boy shook his head, and washed his (or, well, somebody's at least) hands of these foolish and pointless machinations, when the end of the Light was so near. Wrapping the heart's true essence around himself, he stepped from the darkness between worlds onto a beach, to stare calmly and reflect on the futility of all things.

 

And at the same time, many decades earlier, a boy with the destiny of a monster stood on the same beach, many worlds and realms away, and dreamed of places and times beyond his own.

**Author's Note:**

> So one of the funny things is that Ansem literally has no idea where the Princesses of Heart are right now when six of them are literally right above their heads.
> 
> You only had one job you useless fucking Possessor Heartless.
> 
> The idea for how Lingering Will talks is inspired by [to protect the things that matter](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1357144) by alcor. It's probably the best explanation and description of why Lingering Will sounds the way it does in KH2FM. (Besides the fact that they hadn't cast Terra's voice actor yet, I mean.)


End file.
